A Country Called Home Page #5

No, not really.

Yeah, he bought me a drink and he told me that he had just moved back here

to his hometown to die.

And that's exactly what he did.

Of course, it took him a little over five years to do it,

but he was true to his word.

(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)

I don't know. I mean, you seem like a nice enough girl.

Nice enough for what?

Well... (SIGHS)

I just don't know that I'll ever understand

what you and your brother have done.

-What we've done? -To your daddy.

I mean, it seems like you all just left his well-being

in the hands of complete strangers.

I mean, it so happens that I care for him

and I found him this place to live,

but it does seem like y'all didn't care if he was living on the street,

dumpster-diving for his meals.

You, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Look, I know Mark had his problems...

His problems? Do you know how many different schools I had to go to

because my father got fired and we had to move to a different town

where nobody knew about him or his problems?

And I'm sure that was hard.

And walking home from school

with the few friends that I was able to make

and I see all of our belongings,

all of my toys

and clothes being sold in a yard sale

so that he would have enough gas money to leave town.

Look, Ellie, I didn't mean...

Or seeing my mother being carried away in an ambulance

'cause he wouldn't give her the car keys.

-What? -He killed her,

and I still loved him.

(VOICE BREAKING) So how does that make any f***ing sense?

No. No, that can't be right, that can't be true.

"Can't be"... Just forget about it.

Hey. Hey! What about my hair?

Wear a hat!

You're just so selfish. You and your father, both.

Don't think I haven't noticed.

What about you? You rely on your son to put a roof over your head,

and you can't even look after his kid.

Why don't you have another drink?

Why don't you forget about it just like my father?

What do you know about anything, huh?

I had a baby boy and I was married a week out of high school,

and I have been trying to catch up ever since, just trying to...

So what do you know?

You come on back here when you're my age

and you tell me if you did everything right.

You come on back and tell me how it went.

(DOOR OPENS)

Sh*t...

(EXHALES)

(ENGINE STARTS)

JAMES:
(ON PHONE) Hey, Ellie, what's up?

Hi, James.

Hey, I came by your place last night.

Did you hear me knocking?

I'm still in Texas.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

I came here 'cause of my father.

Yeah.

So, this is typically the moment

when a boyfriend would ask a girlfriend

if her father's doing okay or not.

(SIGHS) You know I don't like to deal with sick people.

You know that.

James, I think we should break up.

What? But I love you. What are you...

No, you're not the kind of guy who should really date anyone,

you know, you're more like a fun one-night stand

and somehow I've let this continue for a year.

You think I'm fun?

Uh... James, I don't think we should date anymore.

Starting when?

When I hang up the phone.

Well, in that case I won't let you hang up the phone...

(JUDY GRUNTS)

Are we early?

I don't think so.

(GUITAR PLAYING GENTLE SONG)

(SONG ENDS)

(EXHALES)

Hello, everyone, and thanks for coming.

I'd like to say a few words about Mark Edwards,

who may not have been my legal husband here in Texas,

but who will be, I know, waiting for me at the altar of heaven.

ROGER:
Where's the body?

Excuse me?

ROGER:
I said, "Where's the body?"

I heard what you said, Roger,

and I'm saying I was still talking.

(SLURRING) Well, I'm talking now, ain't I?

And this is a memorial service, isn't it?

So I hope you're not planning on rolling out the casket

like a birthday cake.

Roger, if I could just finish, please?

Would you like to take a step outside? Get some fresh air?

Oh, something stinks in here, all right,

but I ain't fixing to move.

Well, maybe you'd just like to...

Who the hell are you?

I'm Ellie. I'm Mark's daughter.

So now, the ungrateful kids show up.

You looking for a little money, are you?

Roger, you need to button it, and button it fast.

Drunk as a skunk and the sun isn't even down yet.

Drunk as skunk!

AMANDA:
Okay. You know, I spent a lot of time thinking about

what I was gonna say up here

and y'all need to sit on down and get ready to cry!

ROGER:
I'm fixing to cry, all right.

This whole freak show is gonna make me cry!

And I'm gonna ask you one more time,

where is my friend's body?

It was my father's wish to be cremated

-and that is what we... -Cremated?

ELLIE:
Mmm-hmm. Yeah.

Your daddy didn't want to be burned to a crisp.

Well, apparently he did.

Good God almighty! Did you hear that?

Did you hear her?

-Oh... Oh, I see. -No.

So, now you're gonna sic your goon squad on me, is that it?

It's okay, Jack.

No, nobody is gonna hurt you.

ROGER:
Can you imagine? Getting beat up at the wake of your best friend?

Oh, Christ, he was hardly your best friend.

I knew him for about 50 years,

that's more than the rest of you can say.

(STAMMERING) And you've done this all wrong.

I can see that you're upset.

You burnt up his body, you got that picture of him from the Navy,

he hated the damn Navy,

you got this freaking... (MUMBLING INDISTINCTLY)

Okay, that's it. You have to get out!

-Get off of me. -Out!

-Get off of me. -Out, now!

-No, get out! -Ahhh!

Oh, God.

ELLIE:
Hey, just... Just...

(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

(GRUNTS)

(GASPS) Oh!

(PANTING)

That's right.

(SIGHS)

All right.

Let's pick up where we left off, shall we?

Ellie?

You spend more time in this hospital than I do.

This is the last time, I promise.

How can you be so sure it's your last time here?

'Cause, basically, I'm gonna throw my clothes into a bag

and catch the first plane out of here tomorrow.

(DOOR OPENS)

-Hey. -Reno, hey, are you okay?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Y'all can leave.

I got to wait for some stitches.

-No, we can wait. -No, no, no.

I need to go home and check on my mom after anyway.

-You sure? -Yeah.

How's the cut? Is it gonna leave a scar?

I hope so.

Not very interesting until you have a bunch of scars

you can tell a bunch of lies about.

Go, get out of here. I'm fine.

-Okay. -Bye.

(COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING ON CAR STEREO)

Can we leave it on, for a minute?

Yeah, sure.

My father used to love this song.

My brother thinks we lost my father years ago,

you know, after the accident.

Is that how you feel?

I think he was still in there somewhere.

Tell me something about him.

Like what?

First good thing that pops in your head.

You know, he was in all kinds of bands.

And then he met my mom and she was singing in a band in Nashville.

-For real? -Yeah. (CHUCKLES)

So you're like a show business kid?

No. (GIGGLES)

I mean, they quit all that by the time my brother and I came along.

But...

And she used to...

Sing around the house, and, you know...

I bet she was a great lady.

(SONG CONTINUES PLAYING)

AMANDA:
Hey, what are you doing?

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